Timmy Engel denied new trial for murder of Vulcan senior Otto Loose

The man who is serving a life sentence for murder after dismembering Vulcan senior Otto "Bunty" Loose will not be allowed a second trial.

A panel of three judges on the Alberta Court of Appeal denied Timmy Engel's bid to be re-tried. Hewas found guilty by a jury in October2014.

Engel argued the trial judge erred in his charge to the jury and when he allowed into evidence confessions made to undercover police and a detective.

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The 77-year-old retired farmer's dismembered body was found in a wooded area near Bragg Creekwest of Calgaryin January 2012, weeks after he disappeared from his Vulcan home.

Engel told investigators he drove Loose to a rural road near Claresholm, 80 kilometres southwest of Vulcan, where he slit his throat and waited for him to bleed to death in a ditch.

He said he then put the body in the back of his vehicle and drove past Bragg Creek, where he cut off Loose's head and hands, disposing of them in the woods.

Engel's lawyer argued during the trial thathis clientonly confessed to keep police from charging his pregnant girlfriend.

Court heard Engel cashed a $10,000 cheque from Loose days before his body was found.

Engel was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.